Who is/was Jesus?

[Rainbow Mage]

The title is the topic.

Was he messiah of the Jews, enlightened mystic, the avatar of God, or just the prophet of God?

Saviour of the world, false prophet, King of the Jews, or king of none?

Did he die on the cross, or did God save him? Was he really born of a virgin? Is the resurrection a myth or just a metaphor?

Exactly who is/was this man Jesus?

 

[outhouse]

Was he messiah of the Jews, enlightened mystic, the avatar of God, or just the prophet of God?

none of the above.

Did he die on the cross,

high probability

Was he really born of a virgin?

impossible

Is the resurrection a myth

absolutely

Exactly who is/was this man Jesus?

A poor Galilian handworker living the life below a peasant, turned into a traveling teacher/healer, who had a small band of fishermen follow him around. Taught by John the Baptist, he most certainly had a huge zealot influence and told his followers to give up everything thus not having anything for romans to tax. he lived on dinner scraps and avoided paying taxes, he stood up against the roman corruption in the temple and the corruption of the jewish government and died on a cross for it.

a leader of a small obscure jewish movement that did not take off in judaism. Only in legends after his death did he become known. While alive he was another poverty stricken jewish peasant and invisible in a sea of people.

 

[Riverwolf]

To me, a wandering Wise Man, one of many throughout history and the world.

 

[uu_sage]

Jesus to me as a prophet of God who was deeply attuned to God's presence and voice. He bore witness to God's extravagant inclusion and love and taught the people in the ways of justice and liberation. He died because he challenged the ways of Empire and welcomed those whom the Empire and religious authorities deemed "unlovable" including tax collectors, prostitutes, and others.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

I think Jesus was an enlightened teacher myself. I think enlightenment is what he taught and somehow that developed into modern Christianity. Stuff happens...

 

[outhouse]

I think Jesus was an enlightened teacher myself. I think enlightenment is what he taught and somehow that developed into modern Christianity. Stuff happens...

christianity has almost nothing to do with what jesus taught.


it has everything to do with what paul taught


we have no evidence of anything closely related to "enlightened" for jesus.

 

[outhouse]

To me, a wandering Wise Man, one of many throughout history and the world.

i'll buy that for a short version. :yes: its also what history follows as well.

 

[F0uad]

The title is the topic.

Was he messiah of the Jews, enlightened mystic, the avatar of God, or just the prophet of God?

Saviour of the world, false prophet, King of the Jews, or king of none?

Did he die on the cross, or did God save him? Was he really born of a virgin? Is the resurrection a myth or just a metaphor?

Exactly who is/was this man Jesus?

Messiah for all the world not only the Jews.
Also a prophet of god and messenger.

The messiah is the saviour of the world, god saved him, yes he was born of a virgin, the resurrection makes no sense and seems to be copied from other pagan religions.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

christianity has almost nothing to do with what jesus taught.


it has everything to do with what paul taught


we have no evidence of anything closely related to "enlightened" for jesus.

I agree with you in everything except we not having anything to suggest enlightenment. If you take the Gnostic gospels and read the NT in a more mystical perspective Jesus appears enlightened.

 

[outhouse]

I agree with you in everything except we not having anything to suggest enlightenment. If you take the Gnostic gospels and read the NT in a more mystical perspective Jesus appears enlightened.

yes and all written long after his death by people that didnt know him. see him, hear him, live in the same geographic location, and didnt even beong to the same culture and knew little about the small movement he belonged to.

 

[fallingblood]

The title is the topic.

Was he messiah of the Jews, enlightened mystic, the avatar of God, or just the prophet of God?

I like what Riverwolf said here. Jesus was a wandering wise man.

Saviour of the world, false prophet, King of the Jews, or king of none?

I would consider him a savior in the same way that Martin Luther King Jr. could be seen as a savior. He was on a path that he knew had the potential to lead to his death, and a brutal death at that. This inspired a great many people, and has had a great impact on the world.

Now, I wouldn't say that he is the savior of the world in the sense many Christians hold it, as I don't think he is needed for salvation. He just offered one way to the end.

Did he die on the cross, or did God save him? Was he really born of a virgin? Is the resurrection a myth or just a metaphor?

He most likely died on the cross. I could see a possibility that he did somehow survive, but it is unlikely.

As for being born a virgin, no. It was just one more miraculous birth story to signify a "truth." Jesus was seen as important, so like many of important people, he was given a miraculous birth story.

The resurrection story was a little different. It was probably believed to be true. To rule it off as a myth simply does not do justice to the story. Something incredible occurred after Jesus died. It is very probable that the followers of Jesus believed he rose from the dead, and probably even believed they saw him. What exactly happened, that would be a discussion for another thread.

Something did happen though that caused a sincere belief that the general resurrection had begun.

Exactly who is/was this man Jesus?

Jesus was a faith healer from Galilee. He most likely was a disciple of John, and preached that the end was near, and that the Kingdom of God would soon replace the Kingdom of Earth (or specially, Rome). His teachings contained both words and deeds, and in the end, it was his deeds (the message he sent in the Temple) that eventually caused his death. Later on, because his followers were so devout, the movement continued and later turned into something else.

 

[arthra]

The title is the topic.

Was he messiah of the Jews, enlightened mystic, the avatar of God, or just the prophet of God?

Saviour of the world, false prophet, King of the Jews, or king of none?

Did he die on the cross, or did God save him? Was he really born of a virgin? Is the resurrection a myth or just a metaphor?

Exactly who is/was this man Jesus?

Jesus in my belief was a Manifestation of God that perfectly reflected the attributes of God to humanity...so He was both Prophet, Messiah and had spiritual sovereignty.

His birth was miraculous.

He was martyred by crucifixion and His resurrection was spiritual not physical or material. God raised His Spirit to Himself.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

......because I [Jesus] said, "I am the Son of God ?"

Jesus believed his was the Son of God according to John 10 v 36 B

Jesus believes he is the beginning of the creation by God.- Rev. 3 v 14; 1 v 5

 

[Sleeppy]

yes and all written long after his death by people that didnt know him. see him, hear him, live in the same geographic location, and didnt even beong to the same culture and knew little about the small movement he belonged to.

And yet this poverty stricken person, who was invisible in a sea people, became so important around differing geographic locations quickly until it spread throughout the entire world. Someone traveled a lot.

 

[outhouse]

And yet this poverty stricken person, who was invisible in a sea people, became so important around differing geographic locations quickly until it spread throughout the entire world. Someone traveled a lot.

yes paul traveled and took the movement in judaism to the romans where it spread like fire.

there were groups of what is known as god-fearer's in that time. They were romans who worshipped in synagogues but were not jews. This new religion was perfect as they didnt get their winkys cut.


Jesus popularity only existed due to his death and legends after death. while alive his biggest puplic observance would have been the temple incident when he fought the roman corruption in the temple in which he was killed for. There were roughly 400,000 possible witnesses in attendance.

while alive jesus only traveled into small villages teaching/healing for dinner scraps, he wasnt like paul who traveled to large city centers and actually got pauls version out to the public.

 

[outhouse]

......because I [Jesus] said, "I am the Son of God ?"

Jesus believed his was the Son of God according to John 10 v 36 B

Jesus believes he is the beginning of the creation by God.- Rev. 3 v 14; 1 v 5

both of those statements were written by romans who knew nothing of the real jesus in Galilee at a minimum of roughly 60 years after jesus death AFTER jesus had already been deified.


and if you knew anything about history of that time, this movement away from judaism and what jesus really taught had nothing to do with him being the son of god, the son of god was a roman term given to mortal men [emporers] and at that time jesus had to compete with these people. They couldnt deify a man and make him less powerful then roman men.

examples of this are found through out the whole NT, when they say jesus was speaking to large crowds in the sermon on the mount, that is a impossibility for that geographic location. We know they were competing against emporers who spoke to large crowds in public arena's.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

I just want to say how interesting I find it that only 7 percent of voters in this thread believe Jesus is God incarnate.

Either mainline Christians aren't voting or the traditional view of Jesus laid down by the Nicene Creed is heavily declining in the modern world.

 

[outhouse]

ya just 1 voter gives it 7%

the whole god sending himself down as his son living a poverty striken peasants life, then torturing himself to save mankind just doesnt make alot of sense in the big picture.

history shows a mortal man was deified and defined and redefined over centuries of dogma, more so then a magic sky daddy put himself through birth, childhood, adulthood and a physical death, when he has the pwoer to do anything possible.





I do remember a poster that say's

One day you will learn everything about santa claus
On that day! remember everything they told you about jesus.

 

[fallingblood]

I just want to say how interesting I find it that only 7 percent of voters in this thread believe Jesus is God incarnate.

Either mainline Christians aren't voting or the traditional view of Jesus laid down by the Nicene Creed is heavily declining in the modern world.

I think it is that mainline Christians just aren't voting.

It could also be that you offered the option as Jesus being the Messiah, which may be a title that sticks with followers more.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Could be, but I also definitely think traditional orthodox Christianity is on the decline.